It was merely a glimpse in a game that’ll be long forgotten but, oh, was it a glimpse of what could be over an 82-game season.

If it wasn’t Corey Perry (pictured at right, No. 10, with Bobby Ryan) slipping a sharp angle shot between the goaltender’s legs, it was Bobby Ryan pouncing on a rebound created by Perry or flinging in a wrist shot from the high slot off a setup from Ryan Getzlaf. Or it was Getzlaf burying a feed from Ryan to finish off another rush.

The three forwards combined for four goals, seven points and a plus-8 rating in Sunday’s 5-4 Ducks victory over the Kings in the preseason finale. None of those numbers count now, but the club is hoping that those kind of nights will be a regular occurrence.

“You could say there’s pressure there for us to perform,” Perry said. “We’re just young kids trying to go there and play hard, play our game. We’re just trying to perform at our best.”

If that’s the case, it could put the Ducks’ line among the NHL’s elite. There are those in hockey circles who already consider the big, strong threesome one of the league’s best. Last season, Getzlaf finished tied for sixth in scoring with 91 points, Perry had a team-leading 32 goals among his career-best 72 points and Ryan was a Calder Trophy finalist with 31 goals and 57 points despite not being a full-time member until the midseason.

All three say that kind of recognition is nice to hear but nothing more.

“Obviously it tells me that people have that confidence in us and teams will be playing attention to us,” Getzlaf said. “Deep down, it’s all about us and the fact that we know we can play together and we know what we can do on the ice.”

Said Ryan: “I think we’re going to try to be the best line on the Ducks right now and then worry about the rest of the league another time.”

Whether Ryan continues to become a consistent force in his second season will determine how high the bar can be set.

“I think we tend to look too far down the road because Bobby’s been around for a number of years in the organization,” Ducks coach Randy Carlyle said. “But he was a drafted at 18 and has found a way to make his mark last year through injuries to our hockey club and came on with a bang.

“But, again, Bobby’s still a very young player and he’s only one year under his belt in the National Hockey League. So there’s going to be things that come by the wayside and if he’s going to play in the top grouping, he’s going to have to continue to show development.”

Ryan knows it’s up to him if he wants to stay in that top spot on the left side.

“Randy’s a very demanding coach,” he said. “He expects the best of me and I think he understands there’ll be a night when I’m fighting the puck and things like that. But on those nights when one guy is pressing, we’ve got two other guys on that line that can make up for it. If the three of us work together every night, we’re going to be just fine.”

Carlyle has always worked with pairs and often rotates the third forward in and out, depending on matchups against a particular opponent or whether a line is particularly hot or cold. Another option was putting Joffrey Lupul with Perry and Getzlaf, sliding Ryan to the second line with Saku Koivu and Teemu Selanne.

But if it were left up to the trio, they’d gladly stay together all season.

“It’d be great to play with those two for a while,” Perry said. “The way the preseason’s gone, it looks like we have a good chance of sticking together. We’ve got to go out and keep playing like we did the other night and bring that every night.”

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